Elbaf, Walrus School.
Several small giants, only five or six meters tall yet still children, rushed into a massive room filled with towering books. They pushed the door open with a loud bang as panic spread across their faces.
"Ahh, this is bad, this is really bad!"
They hurried toward a female giant who stood nearby. She was just as tall as the others, dressed in a scholarly outfit that still managed to look elegant. Her figure was graceful, her expression gentle and intelligent, and a calm smile rested on her lips.
"Nico Robin, come quickly! Saul has fainted again!"
"Hmm?"
The beautiful giant woman turned around and smiled softly at the children.
"Saul, he fainted again?"
If the Straw Hat Pirates were here, they would have been stunned beyond words.
Robin.
This tall and beautiful giant was actually Nico Robin.
It was almost impossible to believe that the graceful woman standing there, now as tall as a giant, was the same Robin they once knew.
"Yes, yes! He suddenly collapsed!"
The children spoke in a panic.
"We tried calling him again and again but he will not wake up. He is not dead, is he?"
"Take me to him quickly."
Robin's expression turned serious. At first she thought Saul was simply playing another prank, but now it was clear that something had gone wrong.
"Yes, come this way!"
The giant children grabbed her arm and hurried out of the room with her.
---
Inside another chamber, Saul lay motionless on the floor. His tall body looked lifeless, as if all strength had drained from him.
Above the giant library shelves, two figures watched silently.
A man of normal height stood in the air, his entire body hidden within floating black mist. His face showed no emotion as he spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Death, did you find it? Those little brats discovered this fainted Marine traitor and have already gone to call others."
"Do not rush me, War. I still cannot find it. Those simple-minded giants did not hide it here."
Gray mist slowly seeped out from between dozens of huge books on the shelf. The mist gathered together and formed a young woman with a delicate and beautiful face. She wore an exquisite black outfit, luxurious yet eerie.
Her appearance was completely at odds with her presence. Her skin had no life in it, and her expression was stiff and empty, like a corpse that had existed for thousands of years.
"The information was wrong. The item is not here."
"Then we leave. The Master does not allow us to destroy this ancient sacred place yet."
War extended his hand calmly and held Death's hand.
"Return."
A strange and oppressive energy began to spread around them. Dense black and gray waves flickered in the air. Just before Robin and the children reached the room, a dark teleportation array formed on top of the large table.
Whoosh, whoosh.
The black mist thickened as the two figures slowly faded away, disappearing layer by layer until nothing remained.
Clang!
The door burst open.
By the time the giant children rushed in, the two invaders had already vanished. Only a faint trace of black mist still lingered in the air.
And on the table, a dark inverted pentagram was branded into the wood.
"This is..."
Robin immediately sensed something wrong. The aura coming from the table was extremely unsettling.
Whoosh!
Before she could examine it closely, the table suddenly caught fire.
Crack!
In an instant, fierce flames rose and swallowed the entire table, turning everything into ashes.
"Oh no! Why did it suddenly catch fire!"
The children panicked and began searching for something to extinguish it.
But this was a library. There was no water anywhere.
Robin glanced at Saul, who was still lying beneath the table, completely unconscious and about to be swallowed by the spreading flames. Her expression hardened.
She formed a hand sign and spoke firmly.
"Children, cover your ears. Mil Flores, Gigantesco Mano, Spank."
The giant children trusted Robin completely after spending months with her. Without hesitation, they all covered their ears.
In the next moment, massive arms sprouted from both sides of the burning table. They joined together and formed a gigantic arm, even taller than the giants themselves.
Boom!
The enormous hands clapped together violently. The powerful wind that followed crushed the flames instantly, extinguishing them in one strike.
"Wow, Nico Robin, you are amazing!"
"That was so cool! Nico Robin, I want to marry you!"
The children shouted excitedly, staring at her with shining eyes.
"What happened here?"
Several adult giants rushed in from the distance, their heavy footsteps shaking the ground.
"There was a strange fire, but Nico Robin already stopped it!"
"Saul fainted and we do not know why. Where is the doctor?"
The children spoke all at once.
"Saul, can you hear me?"
Robin was already kneeling beside him, carefully turning his body so he faced upward.
---
Saul's face was pale. He looked extremely weak, as if he had lost a huge amount of blood. His expression was twisted in pain, and his eyes remained tightly shut.
Robin's sharp eyes quickly noticed something strange.
A small black handprint was clearly visible on his neck.
"So this is it..."
She immediately understood that this handprint was the reason he had fallen unconscious.
Robin formed another hand sign and created a small version of herself at Saul's neck. The small Robin gently reached out and tried to wipe the black mark away.
"So painful..."
In the next second, unbearable pain flooded her mind.
The memories that surfaced were the most painful moments of her entire life. The suffocating weight of them almost caused her to faint on the spot.
The small Robin clone suddenly shattered into countless pink petals.
However, because the clone shared the pain with her, the painful expression on Saul's face finally eased a little.
His eyelids trembled slightly, but they still did not open.
Robin clenched her teeth. She was now completely certain that this black handprint was what kept Saul unconscious.
"It really is this thing."
Ignoring the pain, she created another small Robin and forcefully wiped the handprint away.
"Ahh... it hurts so much..."
Her voice trembled as she endured the overwhelming pain, but finally, the black handprint disappeared completely.
"I..."
Saul slowly opened his eyes.
He looked around in confusion, then at Robin, who looked exhausted but relieved.
"Nico Robin... what happened? Why am I lying on the ground?"
"You do not remember anything?"
Robin let out a quiet breath of relief and spoke gently.
"I saw a strange black handprint on your neck. It looked like someone attacked you. Do you remember anything at all?"
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